Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
The ancients were amazed and mystified by the gospel, and so are people today: it says that God treats His bitterest enemies as friends. Jesus addressed Judas Iscariot as "friend" and forgave His own murderers. He actually took their guilt upon Himself, "for He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us" (2 Cor. 5:21). This is something that the Bible calls "justification."
The Father treated His own Son as an enemy so He could treat us as friends. One half of the process of the atonement is God being reconciled to His enemies (us). This was accomplished by the sacrifice of His Son, so that He has "reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, ... reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them" (2 Cor. 5:18, 19).
The other half is our being reconciled to God, which is accomplished by our understanding and believing the gospel--the truth of His reconciliation to us by someone preaching the message, "Be reconciled to God."
There are some who will never accept the reconciliation. But more than our sinful human unbelief is willing to recognize, many will respond positively if only the gospel truth is made clear. They will be the people anonymously identified in Revelation 18:4 as "My people," the Lord says.
There is a strange, unearthly love involved in this reconciliation-justification process--agape. It "never fails" (1 Cor. 13:8). It loves Muslims, Hindus, and atheists alike, because its source is God Himself. It "thinks no evil" (vs. 5). But neither is it naive, nor foolish. But it does recognize immediately that beneath the revolting exterior, the other person may have left some decency or self-respect, which will respond to "grace" and "justification."
Can "the kings of the earth" benefit from this Bible idea? Many will say, No; national interests are too valuable and complex to be influenced by any idea associated with "grace." But a "king-to-be" was once saved from a terrible mistake of unnecessary violence by a woman who spoke words of common sense inspired by the idea of justification by faith (the story of Abigail and David in 1 Samuel 25).
But even if the Bible idea of justification by grace won't work in international politics, for sure it would work in finding speedy solutions to conflicts within the church! Common sense is needed!
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: April 4, 1999.
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